Tuesday, August 11, 2009

New this year to the festival is a special programme called City-to-City. This programme focuses on films that showcase a specific city, this year being Tel Aviv. In addition to individual tickets and ticket packages, you can see these films with the City-to-City ticket package, which gives you a ticket to each of the 10 films in this programme.

Films include:

Bena, from Niv Klainer, a 2009 film about a father trying to keep his schizophrenic son at home, but who finds his task made more difficult when he takes in a Thai migrant worker.

Big Dig (Te'alat Blaumilch), from Efraim Kishon, a 1969 farce about one man with a jackhammer that brings the entire city to a halt.

Big Eyes (Einayim G'dolot), from Uri Zohar, a 1974 film about a basketball coach that needs to decide what he wants out of life.

The Bubble (Ha-Buah), from Eytan Fox, a 2006 film about young people in Tel Aviv, tinged with politics.

A History of Israeli Cinema (Historia Shel Hakolnoah Israeli) - Part 1, from Raphaël Nadjari, a documentary covering Israeli film from 1932 to 1978.

A History of Israeli Cinema (Historia Shel Hakolnoah Israeli) - Part 2, from Raphaël Nadjari, a documentary covering Israeli film from 1978 to now.

Jaffa (Kalat Hayam), from Keren Yedaya, a 2009 film about the relationship between a young Jewish girl and an Arab boy over the years.

Kirot (Walls), from Danny Lerner, a 2009 film about an illegal Russian immigrant (Olga Kurylenko) who befriends a woman who lives in the same building. While Kurylenko is best known to western audiences from her starring turn in Quantum of Solace, I first saw her in her acting debut L'annulaire (The Ring Finger) at the festival, back in 2005 (http://tifftalk.blogspot.com/2005/09/lannulaire-ring-finger.html), and then a year later in Paris, je t'aime.

Life According to Agfa, from Assi Dayan, a 1992 film focusing on the patrons of a neighbourhood bar.

Phobidilia, from Yoav Paz and Doron Paz, a 2009 film about a young man locking himself away in his apartment with his TV and the internet to keep him company.